Electrical contact mounting



Nov. 25, 1952 Filed July 12, 1950 C-SAVAGE ELECTRICAL CONTACT MOUNTINGFig.2.

- WITNESSES: a?

INVENTOR 00%0v ge.

'ATTo EY Patented Nov. 25, 1952 ELECTRICAL CONTACT MOUNTING ApplicationJuly 12, 1950, Serial No. 173,445

The invention relates to electrical contactors and relays such as areemployed in control circuits of various types, and particularly to animproved contact mounting for such devices.

Electrical co-ntactors for control purposes must of course be rugged andable to withstand many repeated operations. The contacts themselves aresubject to substantial wear and must be capable of being serviced orreplaced at a minimum expense consistent with proper operation of thecontrol circuit with which they are associated. In a control circuit fora passenger elevator, for example, a great number of contactors andrelays may be employed involving literally hundreds of contacts which ofcourse are vital in the proper operation of the elevator system. Inservicing such a system it is obviously desirable to be able to replacecontact members which have become worn, or defective, as expeditiouslyas possible Without having to replace the contactor or relay itself.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present in-- vention to provide anelectrical contact device which embodies unusually good operatingfeatures and is securely fastened in place, and at the same time is suchthat it may readily be removed for replacement or repair.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a resilient mountingfor an electrical contact which may readily be placed in service orremoved by a simple operation.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a contactor with which thepresent invention may be employed,

Figs. 2 and 2A are views on an enlarged scale partly in section of acontact mounting shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the contact member shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a view of the contact mounting with contact member removed,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a modification of the contact devicemounting.

Referring to Fig. l, the contactor includes a base I!) having suitablymounted thereon a coil or winding I2 surrounding a core I, and asupporting metallic bracket l5. An armature l6 pivoted as at H3, in anydesired manner confronts the end of the core 14, and upon energizationof winding I2, it will be attracted to the core.

A contact supporting member 20, preferably of a moulded electricallyinsulating material, is car- 5 Claims. (Cl. 200-166) ried by thearmature 16 for movement therewith, and a spring 22 is effective to biasthe armature to the position shown in Fig. 1. The extent of movement ofthe armature under the influence of the spring 22 may be limited by astop 23 for engagement by an extension 24 of the armature IS.

A contact-carrying plate 26 is resiliently mounted on the insulatingmember 20. Such a plate is generally of V-shape (Fig. 3) and of metal. Apair of contact members 28 are suitably secured to the plate, as byWelding, in position to engage, respectively, a pair of fixed contacts30 supported from the base It of the contactor by conducting straps 32.In the construction shown by way of example, the contacts 36 are to beengaged by the contacts 28, which with the plate 26 constitute abridging connection between the contacts 30.

The end of the plate 26, opposite to the contacts 28 is provided with arounded depression 33 (Fig. 2), which is a rounded projection as viewedfrom the contact-side of the plate, and the member 20 is formed with arounded recess to receive such projection, the projection and recessconstituting in effect a ball-and-socket joint about which the plate maybe tilted.

The insulating member 20 is provided with a circular opening 40extending through it for the reception of a mounting pin or rivet 42,having a head portion 43 of greater diameter than said opening, a bodyportion M for reception in said opening with a sliding fit, and a stemportion 45 of reduced diameter.

The stem portion 45 of the pin passes through an opening in the contactplate 26, and a compression spring 46 is confined between the plate andthe free end of the pin by a cap 48 which is secured to the pin by ariveted or upset portion 5| thereof.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 4, a, slot 50 extends from the edge of themember 20 into communication with the opening 40, and is of a widthslightly larger than the diameter of the pin stem 45, but substantiallysmaller than the diameter of the pin body portion 44. By suchconstruction, and upon compression of the spring 46 between the contactplate 26 and the cap 48, the contact assembly may be mounted inoperative position by moving the stem 45 laterally through the slot 50into the opening 40, whereupon release of the spring will draw the pinbody portion 44 into the opening with the parts resiliently locked; inthe position shown in Fig. 2.

When a contact assembly is to be removed, for

3 replacement or servicing, the spring is compressed, as indicated inFig. 2A, bringing the stem 45 into register with the slot 5|) to permitremoval of the contact assembly therethrough.

The arrangement of contacts thus far discussed has been of the breaktype, that is, contacts which are normally closed but are opened whenthe contactor winding is energized. A reversal of this of course, is anormally open or make contact as indicated in Fig. 5.

Quite obviously, modifications may be made in the specific constructionillustrated, and it is intended that the invention be limited only bythe spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A detachable mounting for an electrical contact comprising a supporthaving a hole therethrough and a slot communicating therewith having awidth substantially less than the lateral di-- :mension of said hole, acontact-carrying plate overlying said hole on one side of said supportand resilient means for securing it in such position comprising a pinextending through said .hole and loosely through said plate, meansengaging the opposite side of said support limiting the movement of saidpin-toward said plate, and resilient means reacting between said pin andplate biasing said plate against said support, said pin having anenlarged portion disposed in said hole with a sliding fit, and a reducedportion of a lateral dimension such that it may enter said slot whenbrought into registration therewith.

2. A detachable mounting for an electrical contact comprising asupporting member having an opening therethrough adjacent an edgethereof and a slot of reduced lateral dimension extending from saidopening to said edge afiording access to said opening, a contact device,means for exerting a spring bias forcing said device against saidsupporting member including arr-elongated pin having an end portion ofgreater lateral dimension than said opening to prevent movementtherethrough, an intermediate portion of a'dim'ension to permit asliding fit in said opening and a portion of reduced lateral dimensionto permit removal ofthe pin through said slot, and resilient meansreacting between said pin and contact-device to retain said intermediateportion in said opening.

3; In combinationwith a support having an opening therethrough, acontact-carrying. plate overlying said opening on one side of saidsupport and means for resiliently retaining it in such positioncomprising a pin extending through said opening and plate, means on oneend of said pin engaging the other side o'f said support to limit themovement of the pin through said open-- ing, and a spring memberdisposed between the other end of said pin and said plate, said pinhaving a portion of lateral dimension such that it constitutes a slidingfit in said opening and a portion of reduced lateral dimension, a slotcommunicating with said opening throughout the length thereof and havinga width such that said pin portion of reduced lateral dimension may bepased into the slot when the pin is moved against the bias of the springmember to bring the reduced pin portion opposite to said slot.

4. A mounting device for an electrical contact comprising a supportingmember having a keyhole-shaped slot extending therethrough, acontact-carrying plate overlying said slot on one face of said support,a mounting pin extending through said slot and through a hole in saidplate, said pin having an enlarged head portion engaging the other faceof said supporting member, a body portion proportioned to fit within theenlarged portion of said slot and a stem portion proportioned to bemovable into the narrow portion of said slot, and a compression springsurrounding said stem portion connected'atone end thereto and hearingagainst said contact-carrying plate;

5. In a removable resiliently-mounted device including a support havinga hole therethrough, a support'having a circular opening extending fromone face to another, means for resiliently mounting said member inoperative position overlying said opening onone face of said supportincluding a pin extending through said opening and hole and having aheadportion abutting the other side of said support, a body portion on saidpin proportioned to slid'ably fit in said opening when the pin andmember are in operative position, a compressionspringsurrounding-the-free end of said'pin and secured at one endthereto and bearing against said member, and a slot communicating withsaid opening parallel to the axis thereof, at least a portion of thefree end of said pin being proportioned to be received in said slot by alateral movement when moved into registration therewith by manualcompression of said'spring.

'CONWELL SAVAGE.

REFERENCES ci'rED The following references are of recordi-n the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES, PATENTS

